“Today, both Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Boehner released proposals on America’s debt limit. Throughout negotiations over the debt limit, Democrats have been more than willing to make hard choices and compromise for the good of our nation, so that America can pay the bills it has incurred; by contrast, Republicans have repeatedly shown themselves willing to drive our nation into a job-destroying default unless they can succeed in enacting 100% of their ideological agenda.

“That contrast is also evident in the two plans released today. Of the two plans, Majority Leader Reid’s is the only one that’s reasonable: it includes spending cuts that have already been agreed to by both parties; it protects the crucial programs on which millions of Americans rely, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security; and it allows America to continue paying its bills through 2013, bringing added certainty to our economy. Speaker Boehner’s short-term plan, on the other hand, would return us to a state of imminent default in a matter of months—an ironic proposal from a Republican who has repeatedly insisted that our economy needs certainty to create jobs. I hope that both parties can move forward on the basis of Majority Leader Reid’s plan, so that we can prevent default and begin the hard process of restoring our country’s fiscal health.”